This invention relates to a new and improved hanger device which can be easily applied to and removed from an elevated or overhead support. Embodiments are especially advantageous for application to supports which present relatively closely spaced parallel sides, such as, for example, a strip element forming part of a frame for a suspended ceiling. A preferred embodiment of the invention is herein described with reference to its use in connection with such a strip element. However this is only for purposes of illustration and not by way of limitation.
The hanger devices of the type with which the present invention is concerned are those such as may be used to suspend pots, baskets, tools, or for that matter a variety of articles the purpose of which is either ornamental or utilitarian. By far the great majority of such devices of the prior art require the use of screws or bolts for their attachment. In such event the structure to which they are applied is either permanently deformed or defaced and must be repaired when the hanger, and consequently its anchor device, is removed. There have been devices of the prior art which do not require the application of screws or bolts and are fabricated to slip, clip or loop over their support structures. However, such devices, in general, are not satisfactory in all respects. They are often times insecure as to their mount and give inadequate support. Those which have been designed to anchor to strip type supports such as employed in connection with suspended ceilings tend to distort or displace portions of the ceiling when applied. This last is, of course, highly objectionable.
The present invention provides embodiments of hanger devices useful in the suspension of pots, baskets, tools and other articles of substantial size and weight which are constructed and arranged not only to avoid the objectionable features of the prior art but to provide for their simple and economical fabrication, their more efficient and satisfactory use in a wide variety of applications and to avoid the deforming or defacing of the structure to which they are applied.
Prior art pertinent to the specific points of novelty herein set forth with reference to the present invention or its embodiments is unknown.